1960s, Ken Shoulder proposed the idea of the field emission cathode arrays (FEAs)-based electron beam micro-device, so study of the manufacture of flat panel displays and light source device utilizing the design of FEAs has aroused great interest in the public. The working principle of this brand new field emission device is similar to that of the conventional cathode ray tube (CRT), in which imaging or illuminating is achieved by the luminescent effect caused by bombardment of electron beam onto the red, green and blue-phosphor, such devices have potential advantages in terms of their brightness, viewing angle, response time, range of working temperature and power consumption, etc.
One of the key factors in the preparation of high-performance field emission device is the production of a high-performance phosphor body. Fluorescent materials being commonly employed by traditional field emission devices are mainly those sulfide-based and sulfur oxide-based phosphor for the traditional cathode-ray tube and projection television display tube.
The sulfide-based and sulfur oxide-based phosphor, exhibits relatively high luminance, and has a certain level of conductivity, but is prone to decomposition when bombarded by a large electron beam, which results in the release of elemental sulfur that “poisons” the cathode tip, and generation of additional deposition covering the surface of the phosphor, which reduces the luminous efficiency of the phosphor, and hence the service life of the field emission device is reduced.